Payroll Tax Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Payroll Tax & Compliance Specialist

Location: Waxahachie, TX
Compensation: $95,000–$120,000
Employment Type: Direct Hire
Work Schedule: 100% On-Site | Flexible start time between 7:00–9:00 AM
Work From Home: Up to 10 days per year

A leading North American manufacturing organization is seeking an experienced Payroll Tax & Compliance Specialist to oversee payroll tax compliance across the United States and Canada.

This is a newly established opportunity within a growing Finance organization and will play a critical role in strengthening payroll tax governance, improving compliance processes, resolving tax discrepancies, and ensuring payroll-related balances are accurately reconciled to the general ledger.

The ideal candidate will have strong U.S. multi-state payroll tax experience, with Canadian payroll tax knowledge strongly preferred. This individual will partner closely with Payroll, Finance, HR, Benefits, external payroll providers, and tax agencies to ensure accurate and timely payroll tax processing and reporting.

Payroll Tax Compliance & Governance

• Serve as a subject matter expert for U.S. and Canadian payroll tax compliance, with a primary focus on U.S. federal, state, and local requirements.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, provincial, and local payroll tax regulations.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory changes and assess their impact on payroll processes and tax requirements.
• Develop and maintain payroll tax procedures, documentation, and audit-ready support.
• Identify compliance gaps and recommend improvements to strengthen internal controls.

Payroll Tax Reporting & Compliance

• Coordinate and review payroll tax filings, deposits, amendments, and reconciliations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Support quarterly and year-end payroll tax activities, including W-2, T4, RL-1 , and related statutory reporting.
• Research and resolve payroll tax agency notices, assessments, inquiries, and discrepancies.
• Partner with payroll providers and tax agencies to correct filing errors, setup issues, missing remittances, and historical variances.
• Manage ADP SmartCompliance activities, including filings, tax payments, agency notices, amendments, account setup, and reconciliation follow-up.

Accounting & Reconciliations

• Perform monthly reconciliations of payroll tax accounts, payroll liabilities, accrued payroll, and related general ledger accounts.
• Reconcile payroll system outputs and provider reports to accounting records.
• Investigate and resolve discrepancies between payroll records, tax filings, remittances, and the general ledger.
• Support month-end and year-end close activities related to payroll tax and payroll-related balance sheet accounts.
• Prepare schedules and documentation for internal controls, audits, and tax authority reviews.

Audits, Controls & Process Improvement

• Conduct recurring payroll tax audits and compliance reviews to identify potential exposure and correct errors.
• Review payroll activity for taxability, withholding, benefits, overtime, bonuses, taxable benefits, and other payroll considerations.
• Support internal, external, statutory, tax, and financial statement audits.
• Participate in payroll system testing involving tax configuration, jurisdiction changes, legal entities, and integrations.
• Partner with internal teams and external providers to standardize, automate, and improve payroll tax processes.

• 5+ years of experience in payroll tax, payroll compliance, payroll accounting, or senior-level payroll within a complex, multi-jurisdiction environment.
• Strong U.S. federal, state, and local payroll tax knowledge is required.
• Canadian payroll tax experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience reconciling payroll tax balances to the general ledger.
• Experience resolving discrepancies between payroll systems, tax filings, remittances, and accounting records.
• Experience with quarterly and year-end payroll tax processes, including W-2, T4, and RL-1 reporting.
• Experience researching and resolving payroll tax agency notices.
• ADP SmartCompliance experience strongly preferred.
• Advanced Excel skills, including PivotTables, lookups, data analysis, and large-scale reconciliations.
• Experience with systems such as ADP, Workday, Dayforce, UKG, SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, or similar payroll/ERP platforms.
• Strong analytical, organizational, documentation, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate with Payroll, Finance, HR, Benefits, auditors, and external providers.

• CPA or CPA candidate preferred.
• CPP, FPC, PCP/PLP, or other payroll certification is a plus.
• Manufacturing, construction products, logistics, transportation, or other multi-site industry experience.
• Experience supporting union and non-union payroll environments.
• Experience with multi-entity and cross-border payroll structures.
• Experience improving payroll tax controls, reconciliations, and audit processes.
• Experience managing outsourced payroll tax compliance providers, particularly ADP SmartCompliance.